Thursday, September 30, 2010

Three weeks in and loving it!

Buna Ziua everybody? Ce mai faceti? Eu fac foarte bine.

How are you all? I hope everyone is doing well. I am doing very well. Well it's been 3 weeks since I entered this here MTC and so far, I have loved it. My district and companion are flippin' awesome and we are best friends already. So if I have forgotten to tell y'all, all 12 of us are heading to Romania in 6 weeks from now. 3 of us are from California, one is from Hawaii, 3 are from Utah, one is from Missouri, one is from Montana, and 3 are from Texas (I try not to mess with them...get it? Don't mess with Texas?...ok that was stupid.) But anyways, they're all great!

My time here feels like it goes so fast now, it's crazy. Today is P-day, so I went to the Provo Temple again and that was great. In the past week, I've gotten letters from cousin Tyler in Denmark, roommate Jordan in Scotland, Matt Startup, Michael Stevens, aunt Kim, and a sweet package from the Andreasens. Thank you all so much for writing me! I love getting letters and packages. Oh, so Elder Rowley is now in Chile! We said goodbye, and I know he will rock down there in Chile! Also, Elder Zach Andreasen entered just yesterday! I've already seen him. It's so good to have him here and to see him around. I know he'll be such a great missionary. Oh yeah, guess what....he is living literally 10 steps away from my room! That's right, he moved in 3 rooms down from me in my dorm hall! So we'll be seeing each other a lot for the next 6 weeks I'm here! I also got to see BYU friend Josh Haws come in yesterday, he's going to Honduras San Pedro Sula. It's great to hear that Andrew Campbell and Taylor Fisher are doing the right things and preparing for their missions. I guarantee them that what they are doing is the most important thing that they can be doing now, and that they will love their missions.

It's great to hear that you (mom and dad) are doing well. I love hearing from you.

So, Romanain is going great for me! I really love learning it with my district and my teachers make it so fun! Just to clarify, Romanian is a latin language (actually the most pure of all latin languages) So it's a lot like the dead Latin language, but also resembles Spanish mixed with Italian and then throw in a little Russian/Slavic influence. I love it, and I love how the 12 of us are the only speakers of it in the MTC right now! (at least until the new district will come in like 3 weeks) Thanks dad, for your experience in England regarding learning how to communicate well with the people in your mission.

So last Sunday, it was fast. We then had a missionary conference, which was a lot like stake conference back home. We heard from all the prsidency of the MTC. Great talks. Then for the fireside that night, we heard from Stephen Allen (the managing director for the Mission Department in the Church). His talk was very entertaining and he gave us advice on how to be a great missionary. On Tuesday night devotional, I was hoping for an Apostle, but instead we had the privilege of hearing from Elder L. Whitney Clayton (from the Presidency of the 70) and his wife. He spoke on how this church will never stop growing (look up Daniel 2:44-45) and how we as missionaries are part of it. I loved it. I love hearing from authorities in the church.

So did I tell y'all that my companion, Elder Fonnesbeck, will be singing in the Priesthood choir for Priesthood session of conference? Well, now I did. I think that's awesome and he likes being in the choir (he was in a choir group at BYU) So I'll look for him when I watch! Which reminds me, I'm super excited for General Conference here! I know that I will pay extra attention and take good notes as a missionary. I look forward to this weekend cuz of conference! As far as teaching goes, me and my companion are improving every day! I am starting to love teaching because now, I feel so comfortable and do my best to testify of the truth to meet the needs of the investigator. I love gaining that experience. I also love gaining Romanian conversational experience, it's tougher than the English lessons, but I am doing my best. After this next week, we will have to teach the lessons all in Romanian! So that'll be interesting! Haha. I look forward to it. I need to be patient in learning Romanian.

So anyways, my time is running short, so I hope I said enough today and will keep thinking of fun or spiritual stories to tell y'all in later emails. It's tough to think of everything I wanna say in 30 minutes! Well, I love you all and I appreciate your support. I hope you keep doing well and always feel free to write me!! I promise I'll write back!!! Va Iubesc! (I love y'all!) I'll talk to y'all later! La revedere!!!!! Love, Elder Lee.